World History/Ancient Civilizations

Prehistory
Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1. 2. 3. 4.

Details of e-lessons at http://members.cox.net/e-lessons Email David at tei@cox.net These 15 e-lessons are based on the Waldorf/WideHorizon Teaching Packs: Ancient Civilizations Details of WideHorizon Resources (9 Teacher Packs) at: http://members.cox.net/waldorfedu/weredu/index.html Details of Waldorf Resources lessons and packs(9 Units divided into 32 SubUnits) at: http://members.cox.net/waldorfedu/waldorfeduPages/WorldH.html All our material is organized in modular format so that the teacher can work through them sequentially or selectively. The approach is holistic and interdisciplinary and, when appropriate, strategies or subject matter from other disciplines have been included. There is extensive variation in the material so that it relates to different abilities, interests, aptitudes and temperaments. E-lessons are written and organized to be developmentally appropriate.
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Teachers Education Institute

Our Approach
http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm
Teachers Education Institute

1. Our approach encourages students to express what they have learned through a variety of creative and artistic formats and written assignments. 2. It encourages students to move beyond their own experience in order to understand and respect the efforts of past historical figures. 3. One of the best ways for students to gain this understanding is though autobiographical and biographical stories (and dramas). 4. Students instinctively relate and empathize with figures of the past through stories. 5. Many stories and dramas are provided from which students are able to imaginatively construct the past. 6. Controversial issues are dealt with objectively and nonjudgmentally, and in the context of their time and place.
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What is the story of humans on this planet?

Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1.One important tenet of our philosophy is to convey to students how the human race has, throughout history, overcome enormous odds. 2.How the human spirit has struggled against adversity, been involved in failure and disappointment, but also achievement and success.
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What is the essence of this spirit?

Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

Teachers Education Institute

1. In part, it is concerned with attitudes and motivation, in part with values and beliefs. 2. It is concerned with honor and integrity as well as deviousness and cunning; with sacrifice and love of fellow human beings. 3. Students need to learn the achievements of their ancestors, their mistakes (do we inevitably repeat such mistakes?); where they acted selfishly and selflessly. 4. We believe that students want to learn, and given the right structure, methodology and content, they will. 5. If learning occurs in a purposeful and appropriate manner, self-confidence and self-esteem will increase the material is structured for this to occur.
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Using our material

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm
Teachers Education Institute

1.Using our material students first learn about archaeology and the work of archaeologists. 2.Through a story they learn about a young archaeologist and her experience on a dig at Koster. 3.They then learn about the various ways of dating artifacts, and by creating drawings and diagrams experience the method of dating through dendrochronology.
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atal Hyk
http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm
Teachers Education Institute

1. In order to study the earliest farming communities students are taken to the settlement of atal Hyk. 2. atal Hyk lies in a grassy, forested upland area bordering the Fertile Crescent. 3. The students experience life in this settlement through the eyes of Komo, the town storyteller, and then examine the settlement in greater detail from the point of view of safety and personal comfort. 4. James Mellaart, the archaeologist who has worked at, and written about, Catal Huyuk, introduces himself through a story and tells of what he has discovered about these early settlements. 5. Through stories, research, drawing, and writing students experience the development of societies from those based on hunting and gathering to those based on planting crops and domesticating animals. 6. They begin to understand the gradual development of one lifestyle to another, and the overlap of both lifestyles in one community.
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The Lascaux Caves

Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1. The narrative tells of a group of young boys and their dog who, on an expedition in the local woods, discover the caves with the wonderful prehistoric paintings. 2. The paintings of prehistoric people are introduced in the context of this narrative. 3. This helps students to enter into the wonder and excitement of such a discovery. 4. Students are led to appreciate the splendor of the prehistoric paintings. 5. They also learn how the paintings have increased our knowledge of the prehistoric world.
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15 e-lessons on Prehistory
Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1. The initial e-lessons on Prehistory introduce students to the study of ancient history and how we learn about past civilizations. 2. Students are introduced to historical sources and to the importance of evaluating sources (E-L 1.1 What are historical sources? Information) followed by activities (E-L 1.2 What are historical sources? Activities). 3. Students learn about archaeology in E-L 1.3 through a story, Andrea: Aspiring Archaeologist, and information and activities, and in E-L 1.4 about famous archaeologists.
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15 e-lessons on Prehistory
Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1. Paleontological Discoveries in East Africa is taught in E-L.1.5 and the e-lesson includes a guided reading activity. 2. Students learn how to work out how old an artifact is in E-L 1.6 How Old Is It? 3. In E-L 1.7 a story of the Neanderthals Nendi and Lamud describes the lifestyles of the Neanderthals. 4. Learning about the Cr-Magnons occurs in E-L 1.8. E-L 1.9 is a readers theatre activity about the CrMagnons.
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15 e-lessons on Prehistory
Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1.In E-L 1.10 students learn about the Lascaux Caves through a story and guided reading activity. 2.The transition from hunting-gathering to farming is taught through a story (E-L 1.11 Komo, the Storyteller). 3.In E-L 1.12 a story introduces students to atal Hyk, one of the worlds earliest Neolithic settlements.
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15 e-lessons on Prehistory
Teachers Education Institute

http://members.cox.net/e-lessons/Prehistory/OverviewElessonsPrehistory.htm

1.The forming of communities in the Neolithic Age is described in E-Lesson 1.13 Houses, Clothing and Transportation in Neolithic Settlements and E-Lesson 1.14 Food, Art and Religion, and Pottery in Neolithic Settlements. 2.E-L 1.15 contains review exercises on various areas of Prehistory/Early Humankind.
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